tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.comments2018-03-10T00:05:39.996-05:00CommentaramaFilmsAndrewPricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comBlogger37202125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-9730354953605760272018-03-10T00:05:39.996-05:002018-03-10T00:05:39.996-05:00And what of the point that one of my most conserva...And what of the point that one of my most conservative friends who has seen it has made? To wit: contrary to expectations, Black Panther is actually &quot;Trump&quot; and the villain is &quot;Black Lives Matter?&quot; Thoughts?PikeBishophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05761380937971970762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-71242702226271494212018-03-08T20:17:58.461-05:002018-03-08T20:17:58.461-05:00Several years too late, but I have to say I agree ...Several years too late, but I have to say I agree 100%. I enjoyed the movie (excellent performances and it was anything but slow), but it&#39;s not on the same level as 2001.<br /><br />For one, it&#39;s plot-driven and character-driven, where 2001 was theme-driven. HAL isn&#39;t evil, he&#39;s a modern Golem--a symbol of man&#39;s hubris in trying to create a mind in his own image, and thus attain godhood. Of course, since man is flawed, his creation is flawed, and turns on him.<br /><br />The whole bones-to-nukes transition is a way of saying despite our intellect and technology, we&#39;re still basically monkeys hitting each other with sticks. We just developed more impressive sticks. We&#39;re not really any wiser in our understanding of life, though. <br /><br />That&#39;s why Bowman has to dismantle HAL in order to be &quot;worthy&quot; to go through the Stargate and evolve beyond human imperfection. It&#39;s an act of contrition and humility. At its core, 2001 is really a religious film.mfnicksterhttp://openid.aol.com/mfnicksternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-1606221380943751922018-03-07T12:29:06.100-05:002018-03-07T12:29:06.100-05:00&#39;Special effects are done sparingly&#39; I wo...&#39;Special effects are done sparingly&#39; I wonder if this is a matter of choice or budget (a bit of both?). It would be ironic if having a low budget for special effects leads to much better use of them than having a high budget (Peter Jackson, anyone?) As you say the film is well done, though, it is likely choice, which bodes well for future films from the same source.wulfscotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01753817510942803189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-74862177292851651752018-03-04T20:36:27.743-05:002018-03-04T20:36:27.743-05:00Nice review. Sounds like a movie I need to watch....Nice review. Sounds like a movie I need to watch.Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16124128949343301445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-568397745161320512018-03-03T00:27:56.287-05:002018-03-03T00:27:56.287-05:00tryanmax, Thanks for the interesting recommendatio...tryanmax, Thanks for the interesting recommendation. I&#39;d never heard of this film before reading your review, but now I will seek it out. :)AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-57430243036324477122018-02-26T11:56:30.738-05:002018-02-26T11:56:30.738-05:00Andrew, I think rather than Black Panther lacking ...Andrew, I think rather than <i>Black Panther</i> lacking broad racial appeal (whatever that means) the low numbers for whites reflect a suppression effect of the secondary marketing which is largely out of the hands of primary marketers. There was a moderate &quot;whites stay away&quot; message in channels that target liberals. Yes, you read that right, liberal channels called for a not-a-boycott-I-swear of <i>Panther</i> for opening weekend on the grounds of not interfering with &quot;black joy.&quot; I&#39;m sure a good many good liberals complied and put off seeing. And, I don&#39;t doubt there was a good amount of audience shift in the other direction among blacks who saw the film earlier than they would have otherwise. If they track the movie&#39;s entire run, I expect it won&#39;t look different than any other Marvel movie. tryanmaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881154741574720094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-16290731096759290852018-02-25T21:05:11.446-05:002018-02-25T21:05:11.446-05:00Anthony, Live and Let Die was blacksploitation pro...Anthony, <i>Live and Let Die</i> was blacksploitation produced by whites for whites. That&#39;s why it lacks the &quot;black&quot; themes of other blacksploitation films like <i>Black Cesar</i> and <i>Coffee</i> and the such. That&#39;s why I include it in the second type of black culture films -- those that aren&#39;t really black culture and are meant for upper-class white consumption, i.e. fake black films.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-71587069089900617782018-02-25T21:02:26.168-05:002018-02-25T21:02:26.168-05:00This is interesting. The conventional wisdom is t...This is interesting. The conventional wisdom is that <i>Black Panther</i> has broad-based racial appeal, which is why it&#39;s supposedly reaching beyond the black community to change the culture etc. etc.<br /><br />Then I saw this today. Despite claiming that the film has broad-based racial appeal, here are the racial numbers for the audience:<br /><br /><i><br />Before &quot;Black Panther&quot; debuted, some pundits wondered if moviegoers beyond African-Americans would go see it. They need not have worried.<br /><br />According to tracking service PostTrak, the audience make-up this weekend was 37 percent white, 33 percent black, 18 percent Hispanic, and 7 percent Asian. Love for the Marvel Cinematic Universe is, well, universal, and &quot;Black Panther&quot; is no exception.</i><br /><br />That&#39;s actually rather skewed. If the film were race neutral, you would see 75% white, 11% black, 11% Hispanic, 3% Asian. What this means is that whites are less than 50% of what you expect, Hispanics are only 1.5x what you&#39;d expect and Asian 2x, BUT both of those could actually be the result of &quot;disappearing whites&quot; boosting their percentages, which means that Hispanics are likely around 75% of expectations and Asians are 100% of expectations.<br /><br />That doesn&#39;t paint the picture the media has been painting of broad cultural acceptance. That&#39;s not to downplay the box office power this film had, but it doesn&#39;t appear to have advanced the racial issue.<br /><br />Interesting.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-31880361272789863572018-02-24T02:36:35.051-05:002018-02-24T02:36:35.051-05:00Andrew,
Live and Let Die is a Bond movie and Bond...Andrew,<br /><br />Live and Let Die is a Bond movie and Bond movies have little to do with anything real. Hell, most of the Bonds don&#39;t even have English accents.<br /><br />Authenticity is very much the exception to the rule in big budget Hollywood blockbusters. You don&#39;t get studios to splash out 100 million or more by promising your movie will be really, really authentic, you do so by talking about how it will make them lots of money around the world which is why so many look like Benneton ads.<br /><br />Generally speaking ideologues rush to claim popular movies. Often what they say makes sense on some level, but it&#39;s the level audiences don&#39;t care about. For example liberals loved Avatar and hated 300 and conservatives loved 300 and hated Avatar but both those movies owe their massive success to people looking for action packed, CG heavy movies. <br /><br />Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16124128949343301445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-70555536251696305392018-02-23T18:46:25.656-05:002018-02-23T18:46:25.656-05:00tryanmax, I think the idea that this film conveys ...tryanmax, I think the idea that this film conveys a political message comes from the shallow idea of &quot;liberating&quot; all the blacks and the identity-politics idea that &quot;if it&#39;s black, it must be political and leftist.&quot; It doesn&#39;t sound like there is any real message here... just the assumption of a message.<br /><br />I don&#39;t think mainstream audiences care what color the cast is, frankly, if the story remains accessible and relatively free of politics. Once it delves into &quot;black people are super victims of whitey,&quot; I think it loses its white viewership.<br /><br />In terms of &quot;black cinema&quot; being a series of tropes like Westerns, that&#39;s an interesting thought that&#39;s probably true more in the blacksploitation era than today. The black films I&#39;ve seen today are eerily similar to white blockbusters except for some ghetto speak and more drug references.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-46016200767627598162018-02-23T14:31:33.832-05:002018-02-23T14:31:33.832-05:00I had some similar thoughts on black cinema, too. ...I had some similar thoughts on black cinema, too. It exists. It&#39;s generally a niche genre with an occasional mainstream breakout. Films aimed primarily at black audiences couldn&#39;t be produced if they didn&#39;t also attract a fair number of white moviegoers. <br /><br />I see nothing to suggest that mainstream American audiences would object to a mainstream film that just happens to star a black cast. It&#39;s like you say, most of what constitutes &quot;black&quot; cinema is actually ghetto cinema. As a genre, that puts it on par with westerns or fantasy. It&#39;s a package of tropes upon which any major genre (comedy, romance) can be laid atop. tryanmaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881154741574720094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-2244982472704285402018-02-23T14:21:05.162-05:002018-02-23T14:21:05.162-05:00Andrew, exactly right, to the extent that there is...Andrew, exactly right, to the extent that there is any political message in the movie, it is the timeless message that it is better to build up than to tear down. All other claims are, in my estimation, fantasy. And there have been some fantastic claims, such as that <i>Black Panther</i> proves that if Africa had not been colonized, it would be more advanced. Yeah, that and a meteorite of fictional super-metal. Besides, the movie makes it clear that Africa was colonized in the MCU. tryanmaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881154741574720094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-80466341521143838862018-02-23T13:27:19.927-05:002018-02-23T13:27:19.927-05:00On the issue of this representing some opening for...On the issue of this representing some opening for black cinema... I doubt it.<br /><br />First, black cinema already exists, it just isn&#39;t visited by whites. For example, you have movies like <i>Friday</i> about growing up in the ghetto and it&#39;s progeny. You have a lot of black comedies, look at Kevin Hart or Madea. Etc. Or you have the more white-produced &quot;black&quot; films like <i>Hidden Figures</i> and <i>Twelve Years A Slave</i> -- those are really aimed at white liberals.<br /><br />From what you&#39;ve described, this film isn&#39;t either of those so much as it&#39;s just another superhero movie that uses black characters... kind of like a black-culture-free blacksploitation film: <i>Live and Let Die</i> rather than <i>Black Caesar</i>.<br /><br />Indeed, it doesn&#39;t even sound like it&#39;s about real black culture or the black experience. It&#39;s about Atlantis done in Blackface with some African set decorations. That&#39;s hardly any real basis to declare some breakthrough in the acceptance of black cinema. It&#39;s about like mistaking <i>Big Trouble In Little China</i> for opening the door for Chinese cinema.<br /><br />So ultimately, it sounds like this is just another superhero film and I doubt it will give legs to more black films.<br /><br />Well, actually, it will probably spawn a DC version which will bomb and kill off the idea.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-53979935400586224362018-02-23T13:13:36.409-05:002018-02-23T13:13:36.409-05:00Thanks for the review, tryanmax! I&#39;ve been int...Thanks for the review, tryanmax! I&#39;ve been interested in this movie since I first heard about it. I thought Black Panther was the only good thing in <i>Civil War</i>.<br /><br />But then I heard the left going nuts over how this film was supposedly going to change the world and everyone would finally join their cult -- apparently, Gender Confused Boy, Strong Woman, Gurl Power, and Gay Muslim Chick never caught on with the public, so this film had them excited. But knowing nothing of the plot, it was hard to tell if this was true. It sounds like it isn&#39;t.<br /><br />In fact, if this isn&#39;t political, as you say, then all the leftist trumpet blowing is for naught. In fact, having the villain be the one trying to &quot;liberate&quot; blacks runs pretty directly contrary to what the left is teaching.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-6315766072151900132018-02-23T10:04:37.146-05:002018-02-23T10:04:37.146-05:00Anthony, LOL! Good point. Every one of these super...Anthony, LOL! Good point. Every one of these superhero movies is supposed to change the way we see movies, isn&#39;t it? <br /><br />FWIW, Michael B. Jordan has said he wishes the movie weren&#39;t so hyped up, either. He also says he hopes that his character&#39;s hairstyle becomes a trend. That&#39;s what I like about Jordan: talking about hairdos is a totally appropriate conversation to attach to a movie. Not everything has to be earth-shattering. (It&#39;s a pretty cool hairdo, too.) tryanmaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09881154741574720094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-13063593419679750462018-02-23T01:57:09.939-05:002018-02-23T01:57:09.939-05:00Nice review. I agree with pretty much everything ...Nice review. I agree with pretty much everything you said though as a big fan of superhero movies I&#39;d say black Panther lives up to the hype. I put it up there with the likes of Robocop, Darkman, Blade 2, Xmen 2, The Incredibles, Hellboy, Spider-Man 2 (the one with Doc Ock), Dark Knight, The Avengers, Winter Soldier, Dredd, The Guardians of the Galaxies movies, Wonder Woman and Logan. Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16124128949343301445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-3054428352148130402018-01-27T13:08:40.422-05:002018-01-27T13:08:40.422-05:00Well, the movie did suck indeed. The lack of subti...Well, the movie did suck indeed. The lack of subtility was its prime featue.John Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15040106071973128389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-57190659789002894702018-01-16T01:26:23.928-05:002018-01-16T01:26:23.928-05:00Hi Kylo, That&#39;s actually an excellent point! ...Hi Kylo, That&#39;s actually an excellent point! Never thought about that before, but she must have survived him. Funny. :)AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-8742876725911535422018-01-16T01:16:59.803-05:002018-01-16T01:16:59.803-05:00Not sure if any of you will see this, but I’m watc...Not sure if any of you will see this, but I’m watching BTTF 3 and something about Clara Caldwell is causing me confusion. <br /><br />Marty shows Doc a photo of his tombstone which says it was erected by his beloved Clara... So we are now wondering who this Clara is cause Doc has yet to meet her just a few days prior to his impending doom. But alas, we find out and new teacher is moving to town and her name is Clara, and then while Doc and Marty are looking at the railroad tracks, they save a damsel from flying into the ravine. This damsel is Clara Caldwell. Doc makes a big deal about saving her because now he’s altered history since the ravine was named after that Clara when she fell to her death. He regrets it, but my question is why? Apparently he must have saved her on his own while he lived out this timeline prior to Marty arriving because his tombstone was erected by Clara. <br /><br />I know, I know, I should draw the line at time travel and therefore all suspension of reality and belief should be made already. I’m just curious if I missed something here. Kylo Fishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09287956190582037963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-83951576241057786072018-01-06T11:41:06.397-05:002018-01-06T11:41:06.397-05:00When we had the OJ Trial and Rodney King Riots and...When we had the OJ Trial and Rodney King Riots and all in LA for people like me that played sports on mixed teams in the 70&#39;s We thought we had moved past all that race BS. The truth is we were sold out at the highest level by elites, they want social unrest, it&#39;s about power. they want high drugs and crime in the cities, it&#39;s about power. They want a police state, it&#39;s about power. It&#39;s been the plan since the 60&#39;s for control by Deep State. That&#39;s what open borders is all about. bocathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02017134468213276596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-74921826212092524182018-01-05T10:15:10.836-05:002018-01-05T10:15:10.836-05:00Jibbsy2012, That&#39;s an interesting take that s...Jibbsy2012, That&#39;s an interesting take that she died in the storm. That would explain why the others are in the loop with her too -- always struck me as odd that they are sharing her version of hell, unless they aren&#39;t really there.<br /><br />I definitely think that the taxi driver gives her the chance to end the loop each time, but she never does because she can&#39;t accept the responsibility for what she&#39;s done.<br /><br />Great movie!AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-78000133936999594952018-01-04T12:59:02.553-05:002018-01-04T12:59:02.553-05:00Hi Andrew
Ok, so after watching it again and thi...Hi Andrew <br /><br />Ok, so after watching it again and thinking about the loopings, my interpretation (may have been covered already above, I’m not sure), is that Jess killed her son in anger at 8.17, then went on the boat trip, and it is the storm that killed her (and the others), not the car crash. I don’t think the car crash actually happened in reality as the dead Jess in the car crash has the stained dress on, which she obviously would not have worn to the boat. Instead, the crash is part of the afterlife torment that resets her her back to square one - a dead Tommy, despite her thinking she has redeemed herself by killing bad Jess to save him. At this point in each cycle, the taxi driver/Charon gives her the option (or at least appears to do so) to stop the cycle by returning to him instead of heading on the whole ordeal again. However, I think this is actually her punishment in hell/Tartarus, rather than a purgatory, and so she will never accept to return to him. <br /><br />That’s my thoughts anyway!! <br />Jibbsy2012https://www.blogger.com/profile/01198949281595124189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-79781131752901318372018-01-03T20:15:49.264-05:002018-01-03T20:15:49.264-05:00Jibbsy2012, I&#39;ll be curious to hear your thoug...Jibbsy2012, I&#39;ll be curious to hear your thoughts!AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-24723826996760703012018-01-03T20:11:43.419-05:002018-01-03T20:11:43.419-05:00Bringing it into 2018 now (6 years from your origi...Bringing it into 2018 now (6 years from your original post!)<br /><br />Just watched this film and it blew my mind to the point I have just spent like 3 hours reading all I can about it. <br /><br />Need to watch it again (tomorrow!) And hopefully can add a few of my own thoughts, which require another viewing to consolidate! Jibbsy2012https://www.blogger.com/profile/01198949281595124189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-25061395646141467872017-12-14T19:52:28.179-05:002017-12-14T19:52:28.179-05:00From my perspective it wasn&#39;t a bad movie at a...From my perspective it wasn&#39;t a bad movie at all, maybe it was a bad adaptation because they mutilate a lot of content. I remember reading those books when I was 11 years old... and I just loved them... yes there was a lot of criticism to catholicism but I wasn&#39;t really interested in that, as a child I was amazed by the adventures... the story was just beautifulAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com